Climate protesters head for heath

Around 1,000 activists have descended on a stretch of open land in London after the location of the week-long Climate Camp was finally revealed.

Protesters arrived from several areas of the capital to Blackheath in south-east London, setting up the camp on a hill overlooking Docklands and Canary Wharf.

The site for the camp was kept top secret until the last moment and was texted to hundreds of people who had travelled to London to take part in the event.

Organisers of the camp said this year's venue symbolised the financial and corporate centres of power, and was within the floodplains of the River Thames, which activists warned was at risk of bursting its banks as climate change escalated.

One of the organisers said: "Having previously camped at sites of climate crime such as Drax, Heathrow, Kingsnorth and the Climate Exchange on Bishopsgate, today the Camp for Climate Action is setting up camp at the doorstep of the economic and political systems that are fuelling catastrophic climate change."

One of those joining the camp, Lizzie Jacobs, said: "This year the camp is pitching its tents at the doorstep of the root causes of climate change. That's why we're in London - it's the hub of climate business and a symbol of the failed political and economic systems that are causing climate catastrophe.

"I'm really looking forward to the next week - it will be packed with opportunities to learn and to build a movement that is taking action on climate change.

"Climate change is relevant to absolutely everyone, so everyone is invited to come down to the camp to find out more and join together to demand and create a more sustainable society."

The first of the campers arrived on bicycles at the entrance of the site, close to historic Greenwich Park.

The so-called Camp for Climate Action is on common land, where in 1381, preacher John Ball gave what was probably the country's first speech against class oppression.